


Nothing's Free In Life...Or Death

by Pmaturtle



Category: Beetlejuice (1988), Beetlejuice - All Media Types, Beetlejuice - Perfect/Brown & King
Genre: Angst, Beetlejuice Has Mood Ring Hair (Beetlejuice), But not for Juno., Enjoy my fanfic :), Forgiveness, I'm Bad At Tagging, Juno is a bitch, Mommy Issues, No Smut, Tags Are Hard
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-21
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:01:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24265534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pmaturtle/pseuds/Pmaturtle
Summary: Beetlejuice has never had to deal with the disgusting feeling of guilt before. He just wants it gone, but he also wants to be in good graces with Lydia and her family again. He comes across a way to make it up to her for trying to kill everyone. A way for Lydia to see her mom for an entire day. It comes with a cost, but Beetlejuice is willing to do it. For Lydia.Or: Beetlejuice is a good boy who tries to fix his mess and Juno is the worst mother possible and F**ks it up.
Relationships: Adam Maitland/Barbara Maitland, Beetlejuice & Adam Maitland & Barbara Maitland, Beetlejuice & Charles Deetz & Delia Deetz & Lydia Deetz & Adam Maitland & Barbara Maitland, Beetlejuice & Lydia Deetz, Charles Deetz/Delia Deetz
Comments: 3
Kudos: 36





	1. Chapter 1

We begin our story with a demon walking down a street. Not just any street however, he is walking upon a street in the land of the dead; also known as the Netherworld. This also isn't just your regular ol' demon. Oh no, this is none other than Beetlejuice we're talking about. Our twice dead friend here has been feeling off for the past few weeks, for reasons he can't figure out. He also refuses to actually take time to think about what the source of his glum mood could be. Having pushed it off for far too long now, it is getting harder and harder to deny the feelings in his empty chest...

▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎

"Ugh....there's nothing to do in this part of town. Why can't these saps learn to have a little fun in their afterlives? I mean you're DEAD do whatever the fuck you want!" That last comment got a few looks in Beetlejuice's direction, but no one dared approach him. Almost everyone down there knew what the bio-exorcist has done in the world of the living. It also didn't help that his dear beloved mother strikes fear into everyone that interacts with her. They must figure the apple doesn't fall from the tree, but that is as far from the truth as possible. Beetlejuice would know, he tried his hardest to be everything his mother is not. Tried to be exactly what she didn't want him to be, just to piss her off. It's only fair since she treated him like shit his whole life and afterlife. 

Back to his current situation, Beetlejuice kicks a rock in front of his foot which just so happens to land in some poor souls empty eye socket. That earns a snicker from the ghost with the most. He sticks his hands in the pockets of his iconic striped suit jacket with a sigh. He can tell another wave of the same gross feeling is squirming its way into his mind. With another sigh, he turns down a random alley and walks a ways in to sit down, without a care if the ground beneath him is filthy. 

He rests his arms on his knees and leans his head back on the wall, not really worrying about if anyone saw him. He went too far into the alley for any soul to see his saturated state of being. Beetlejuice sits there, trying not to think of anything, but unbeknownst to him his hair has changed to a deep shade of purple. He leans his head forward and in front of him is a reflective sheet of metal, which shows him what his hair is doing. All of a sudden, streaks of red start appearing in the sea of purple and beetlejuice uses both hands to take a hold of chunks of the hair that portrays his mood unwillingly. "I HATE this stupid hair!!" 

'Lydia liked it.'

That thought made him stop everything he was doing. Lydia. She was the closest thing to a friend he's had in a long while, though he wished it could've lasted longer. That entire situation went down like a led balloon. A led baloon on fire that landed on spikes. At least he was there to stop her from jumping off that roof. If he wasn't, how would've that entire situation gone? Would he have succeeded with his original plan of using those sexily boring maitlands to get the living to say his name? He doubts it. Lydia understood him, because like she said on the day they met, she felt invisible just like how he did. Of course, he actually was invisible, but she could see him! That had to be a sign that they were meant to be friends! But he went and fucked that up.

"Uuugghh! I hate these stupid feelings! Why can't I just rip 'em out?!" Beetlejuice then grabs the exact spot where he died a second time by a stab wound from some of the worst art he's ever seen. "I miss those crazy breathers." He can't believe that just came out of his own mouth, but he also can't deny it. "Even though I left on seemingly good terms, there's no way that they'd want me to come back. I tried to kill them, they'd be insane if they actually let me come back. Of course...maybe Lydia would..." Beetlejuice shakes his head to try to get back to feeling himself again, but it's in vain. He knows unless he addresses these God-forsaken feelings of his he was gonna continue being like this. "I don't even know what I'm feeling! How the hell am i supposed to fix this?!" 

"Guilt." 

In less than a blink of an eye Beetlejuice is standing with energy gathering on his fingertips. A little distance away in the alley is what appears to be an old woman in rags for clothes. "Who the hell are you?! I'm warning ya hag, don't mess with me!" 

The lady comes closer, "Guilt. That's what you're experiencing." She advances still until she is in front of Beetlejuice. The old woman is quite a bit shorter than himself, so he has to turn his head down a bit to look at her. "It's none of your damn business what's goin' on in my head lady." He crosses his arms with a scowl on his face. 

"That may be so, but I can offer you a way to relieve this guilt of yours." That catches his attention, but he's skeptical of her. "And just how do you know what would help in a situation you had nothing to do with?" The lady simply lookes up at him, "The tale of what you have done above is no secret Beetlejuice and you know it. Now do you wish for my help or are you satisfied with your current stance?" With a grumble Beetlejuice uncrosses his arms and puts them in his pants pockets. "Yeah alright lady. What you got?" 

The old witch makes some hand movements and a second later, two necklaces appear in her hand. Both are identical and have a small hourglass on a gold chain. "This jewelery is capable of bringing back a soul from the Netherworld as long as a living being is wearing the other necklace." Beetlejuice snaps his fingers, "Ah! So Lydia can bring back her mother! That girl wouldn't shut up about her dead mom." He goes to grab them but is stopped with a smack. He yelps and holds the hurt hand. "Bitch." He whispers under his breath. 

"There are rules and limitations to this that you must heed to. The necklaces only last for 24 hours in the living person's time. Before that time has run out, the living must return to the Netherworld or else be trapped in this land of the dead forever." She finally holds her hand out for the demon to take. He snatches them quickly, "That sounds easy enough, but I'm not stupid. What do I have to do? You're not just gonna give these to me with out a price." He stuffs the jewelry in a pocket on the inside of his jacket. 

"How wise of you Beetlejuice. Yes, I require from you a portion of your demonic powers not all of it and not even near half of it. Simply a small percentage of the energy you possess." The old lady already knew what his answer would be. "Oh, what the hell! I want to see Lydia again and those stupidly hot Maitlands! If this is what it takes, so be it. You've got yourself a deal ya old hag." He puts his hand out and the woman grips it with her frail hand then promptly disappears in a puff of smoke. 

Beetlejuice stands there for a moment and just blinks. He pats himself down to check everything is still in there. "Welp, I don't feel any different. Maybe she messed up her own deal." He says with a snicker, "I guess it's time to say hello to some old friends." With that said, Beetlejuice snaps his fingers and dissappears from the alley.


	2. An Entrance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iiiiit's Showtime! ;)

Lydia awakes to the sound of pots and pans clanking around in the kitchen downstairs. From the sliver of light coming through her dark, spider webbed curtains, she can tell its around 10 in the morning. So, with a groan similar to that of a zombie, she flips her covers off and makes her way to her bathroom to begin getting ready for the day. 

After finishing up her morning routine in there, she heads to her closet to grab something to wear. Recently, she's been adding tiny splashes of color to the brigade of black in front of her. As she reaches for a random shirt she pauses, "Why does something feel weird about today?" With a shake of her head, she grabs a black lacy shirt that is long, but not long enough to be a dress, along with some ripped black jeans. What color splash was she feeling today? With a glance at her collection of boots, a pair of black and white striped army boots catch her eye. 

Oh. That's why today feels weird. 

Lydia looks over to the calendar upon her desk, to check the exact date. Yep, today marks 3 months since the...fiasco, for lack of better term, with He-who-shall-not-be-named. Believe it or not, that has actually become one of the few household rules in the Maitland/Deetz household. Because even the mentioning of him digs up some memories that don't want to be remembered in anyone's mind. 

However, Lydia has been thinking about the deranged demon more and more often these days. Can you blame her? The two of them were on their way to being great friends and partners before...ya know. He just had to go and act like a selfish child and then on top of that, have the nerve to try to kill her family! He...he deserved what he got! 

Lydia sighs and then sits on her bed to put her head in her hands. "Stupid demon. Stupid life. Stupid death. Stupid EVERYTHING!" She flops backwards unto her blankets and groans depressingly. Before she can think another thing, three knocks echo through her still-dark room. "Lydia? Honey? If you're up, breakfast is just about done! Delia and I made up a new recipe!" Barbara's happy energy brings a smile too Lydia's face. "Yeah I'm up! I'll be down in a sec!" 

With out warning, Barbara's head comes through the door, "Okay good! I really want to know what you think of these new pancakes! Please hurry!" With that said, she takes her head out of the door and Lydia assumes she goes back downstairs. The teenager cant help but chuckle at the antics of one of her ghost family members. Although Barbara is definitely the motherly type, Lydia refuses to call her any sort of "mom" name. She loves Barbara, really, but Lydia only has one dead mom. Of whom she wishes was still alive and sitting with her right now. Boy would she have got a kick out of what occurred 3 months ago. Her mother is the person she gets almost everything from. The relationship with her Father is improving, yes, but nothing will ever compare to the connection she had with her late Mother. In fact, knowing her Mom, she would have just straight up confronted Beetlejuice. Maybe even given him a good slap on the back of the head, powerful demon or not. 

With a silent chuckle, Lydia breaks herself from her thoughts and starts heading downstairs. When she arrives to the kitchen, she's greeted ecstatically by Barbara and Delia, which she returns with a polite "Good morning". Her Dad and Adam are sitting at the table in the dining room, Adam talking excitedly about a topic while Charles seems to be just being polite and listening. 

Turning around, Lydia opens a cabinet to grab a mug for some hot tea, but she notices a mug that she got a couple years ago at a yard sale. It's a cup that is closer to being a sphere with a handle and has black and white zig zag vertical lines. Her mom is actually the one who spotted it at the end of a table and showed it to her. She promptly made her father buy it right after seeing it, thinking it was such a strange cup, that she had too have it. Now it only seems to remind her of her dead mom and a certain striped dead man. Despite this, she takes that mug and places it on the counter so she can begin to heat up some water on the stove. 

Once she sure everything is ready and she picks out what flavor of tea she wants, Lydia heads to the table to wait for the water. "Morning Dad, Morning Adam." She says once Adam notices her presence and takes a moment to stop speaking. "Good morning Lydia! I was just telling your father about a new craft that Barbara and I are planning on starting!" Intrigued, Lydia raises an eyebrow which signals for the ghost to continue, "We were thinking about creating a mini replica of the town! And actually we were wondering if you might aid us a bit with that. You see, since we can't really leave the house, we need you to go around town and take pictures for us! I still remember a pretty good lay out of the town, but just in case, some pictures would be helpful." He says this all with a wide smile. The Maitlands had to be the most cheerful people she had ever met. "That sounds awesome! I can go out today to take pictures if you want?" Adam clapps his hands excitedly, "That would be perfect! Thank you so much Lydia!" With a cough, the teen's father interjects, "Now Lydia, it's a Friday, you have to finish your school work. Just because you're homeschooled now doesn't mean-" "Relax Dad. I did it yesterday." She hears the kettle start whistling, so goes into the kitchen, "There wasn't that much work yesterday, so I figured I could work ahead." Lydia pours some water into her strange mug and then places the tea bag inside to let it steep. She brings it too the table along with a small bowl of sugar. "Well done dear. Good to see you thinking ahead like that." 

To hear her father saying things like that shows her that he is making an effort to be better, and she appreciates that. Lydia gives him a smile and looks back down to her tea. She contemplates whether to bring up what today marks, but doesn't get long to think about it since Delia comes in with a large plate of pancakes. "I present to you, oatmeal, banana, and chocolate chip pancakes! Healthy, vegan, and sweet!" She places the dish in the center of the table and Barbara comes behind her with plates. She uses her newfound powers to place a plate in front of those who are able to eat. "I wish i could try them! The chocolate was my idea! Lydia I give you the responsibility to enjoy them twice as much, just for me!" Adam raises his hand, "Oh! Make that Thrice! Enjoy them for me too!" Lydia laughs with a big smile on her face and takes her serving of the food in front of her. 

The odd family makes small talk while the living members enjoy their meal. Once everyone finishes up Barbara once again uses her ghost powers to levitate the dirt dishes to the sink. "You've been using your ghost abilities alot more often Barbara. How come?" Lydia asks while getting up. "Well, i figured since this is just how we're gonna be from now on, may as well learn how to use what I got!" Lydia had a brief thought of how Beetlejuice would've probably made an innuendo at the moment. "Plus! Its alot more helpful to you guys! I can do chores in a snap now!" She emphasized her point with actually snapping and nosies started up in the kitchen that sound like the dishwasher being loaded. Delia looks over to the ghost woman, "That's so sweet of you! I'm so glad we didn't have orth- err...kevin, get rid of you." 

And just like that, there was a change in atmosphere. It was hardly noticeable, but the ghost couple's grins shifted slightly down. Adam coughs into his fist, "Uh, yes, I as well." Looks like Lydia didn't need to bring up what day it is, seems as though they all knew. Or at least the maitlands did, and Delia accidentally mentioned something of that day a few months ago, bringing up memories. The goth decides to break the uncomfortable atmosphere, "Well I'm gonna go grab my camera and get ready to go out for pictures!" The adults respond with a series of "Alright." and "Be careful!" 

Lydia goes upstairs and to her room to grab her camera and some extra film just in case. Before she leaves she looks at her dresser mirror to check if a hat would go with the outfit, but notices a picture she taped there when she moved in. It's on of those strips of photos from photobooths at movie theaters and arcades. This specific one is of Lydia and her mom when they went to go see IT in theaters. That puts a smile on Lydia's face, and then she grabs the handle to open the door. 

CRASH!

A loud noise comes from the attic above her. "Lydia!? Are you okay up there?" With a look down the stairs, she sees Adam at the bottom stair looking at her worriedly. Lydia glances to the roof then back at the ghost, "...That wasn't you guys?..." She asks unsure. Realization flashes on his face and suddenly everyone is behind him. Lydia turns to the door that would lead up to the attic and makes a step towards it, "Wait! Lydia! Let me go first in case it's someone dangerous." The girl rolls her eyes but steps back to let Adam up the stairs, everyone following behind him.

With a creak, the door opens and Adam starts going up, Lydia right behind him and Barbara at his side. With a deep breath, Adam kicks the door open and jumps in with a war cry. "AAAHHHH!" "AAAHH-Oof!" Lydia hears another guy scream and seemingly fall over. She knows that voice. That scream. The teen rushes in and stands in front of a scene that she never would have thought she'd be seeing. 

A certain demon on the ground with a small table fallen next to him and a mess all around the area. A glowing green door behind him, cracked open with smoke leaking out. A groan comes from the dead man on the ground, "What a great welcome party you guys, really, you didn't need to do this all for me."

Lydia is the first to be shaken out of the shock and loudly says, "Beetlejuice?!?!" 

With a chuckle the striped man sits up, "Careful Lyds. That's a dangerous word." He stands up fully, dusting himself off. He shoots finger guns at the group in front of him, "Sooooo...how's it been?"


End file.
